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SpaceX's 'DragonFly' prototype was briefly used to test Dragon 2's propulsive landing capabilities before the program was cancelled. Most of the technology remains a part of Crew Dragon, however... (SpaceX) SpaceX's 'DragonFly' prototype was briefly used to test Dragon 2's propulsive landing capabilities before the program was cancelled. Most of the technology remains a part of Crew Dragon, however... (SpaceX)

SpaceX

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon could land with abort thrusters in emergencies, says Musk

SpaceX's 'DragonFly' prototype was briefly used to test Dragon 2's propulsive landing capabilities before the program was cancelled. Most of the technology remains a part of Crew Dragon, however... (SpaceX)

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says that Crew Dragon – originally designed to propulsively land like Falcon 9 – is still technically able to do so, a capability that could give the already uniquely redundant spacecraft yet another level of safety during Earth reentry and landing.

While Musk noted that adding or enabling that capability during missions with astronauts would be entirely dependent upon NASA’s approval, the idea would be to trigger Crew Dragon’s SuperDraco abort thrusters in the event of a partial or total failure of the spacecraft’s parachutes. Although Crew Dragon is already capable of keeping its passengers safe if one of its four parachutes fails to properly deploy, the loss of any additional drag would likely create a situation where the force of impact on the ocean surface could severely injure or kill astronauts, much like a car crash without airbags. To prevent this, Crew Dragon could fire its thrusters at the last second, canceling out or at least minimizing the force of impact.

If it can be done, Crew Dragon would be the only spacecraft in the world with the ability to ensure crew survival in the event of a failure involving parachute deployment, although it’s not clear if that recovery redundancy would still be available after an actual in-flight or pad abort during launch operations. Still, for a space agency so apparently fixated on and worried about ‘qualifying’ SpaceX’s Crew Dragon parachutes and a “Safety first!” culture more generally, one would expect NASA to jump on any opportunity to dramatically improve spacecraft safety with minimal additional effort.

Thanks to SpaceX’s decision to permanently integrate the SuperDraco-powered launch abort system (LAS) into the capsule itself, compared to most other solutions with ‘escape towers’ or service section-based abort systems ejected once in orbit or prior to reentry, Crew Dragon can escape from Falcon 9 at any point from the pad to orbit. Boeing’s Starliner capsule also features this capability, although its abort system is integrated into its trunk, which – like Crew Dragon – is detached before reentry, meaning that Starliner would have little to no control authority during descent and recovery aside from small maneuvering thrusters. For Starliner, the potential consequences of a parachute failure during recovery are quite a bit higher than Dragon as a result of Boeing’s decision to land the capsule on land, a process that actually necessitated the inclusion of a complex series of additional deployment events for a successful (and safe) landing.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. (Boeing)

During Starliner landings, the capsule must deploy its drogue chutes and main parachutes (three instead of Crew Dragon’s four), but also has to eject the entire heat shield section and deploy airbags shortly before touchdown. If one or all parachutes failed to properly deploy, Starliner would have no recourse to protect its passengers, while a failure of heat shield deployment or airbags likely would result in significant damage to the spacecraft and potentially injure the crew. While it adds complexity, many other spacecraft – including Russia’s Soyuz capsule and Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule – rely on actively-cushioned land recoveries, although they typically use small thrusters (usually solid rockets) instead of cushions to achieve a softer touchdown.

Still, the fact that Crew Dragon will likely approach its splashdown with several thousand kilograms of propellant still aboard and (nominally) unused SuperDraco thrusters clearly offers a major opportunity for added redundancy and safety, potentially requiring little more than a software update to enable. If possible, the opportunities stretch well beyond simply cushioning anomalous ocean splashdowns, potentially allowing for abort scenarios where Crew Dragon would be able to safely return crew to Earth even in cases where the capsule would be forced to land on the ground by using its SuperDracos to cushion what would be an otherwise dangerous crash.

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the company may actually explore – if not operationally utilize – the capabilities lent by Crew Dragon’s (also known as Dragon 2) abort thrusters, including redundant recovery and propulsive or cushioned landings at sea or on land. SpaceX is set to use refurbished and slightly modified Crew Dragons to fulfill its second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS2) contract with NASA to deliver supplies to and from the International Space Station (ISS).

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Elon Musk

SpaceX’s next project will produce Starships at a level that sounds impossible

1,000 rockets per year is an insane number, especially considering Starship’s sheer size.

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Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk has revealed bold plans for SpaceX’s newest Starbase facility in Texas, predicting it will become a birthplace for “so many spaceships.” The upcoming “Gigabay,” a massive $250 million production hub in Starbase, Texas, is designed to manufacture up to 1,000 Starship rockets per year.

That’s an insane number of rockets for a single facility, especially considering Starship’s sheer size. 

One of the world’s largest industrial structures

SpaceX’s Gigabay is expected to stand roughly 380 feet tall and enclose 46.5 million cubic feet of interior space, making it one of the largest industrial structures to date. The facility will feature 24 dedicated work cells for assembling and refurbishing Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, complete with heavy-duty cranes capable of lifting up to 400 U.S. tons, as noted in a Times of India report.

Construction crews have already placed four tower cranes on-site, with completion targeted for December 2026. Once operational, the Gigabay is expected to boost SpaceX’s launch cadence dramatically, as it would be able to build up to 1,000 reusable Starships per year, as noted in a report from the Dallas Express. Musk stated that the Gigabay will be “one of the biggest structures in the world” and hinted that it represents a major leap in Starbase’s evolution from test site to full-scale production hub.

A key step toward Mars and beyond

Starship is SpaceX’s heavy-lift rocket system, and it remains a key part of Elon Musk’s vision of a multiplanetary future. The vehicle can carry 100–150 tonnes to low Earth orbit and up to 250 tonnes in expendable mode. With several successful flights to date, including a perfect 11th test flight, the Starship program continues to refine its reusable launch system ahead of crewed lunar missions under NASA’s Artemis initiative.

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Starship is unlike any other spacecraft that has been produced in the past. As per Elon Musk, Starship is a “planet-colonizer” class rocket, as the magnitude of such a task “makes other space transport task trivial.” Considering Starship’s capabilities, it could indeed become the spacecraft that makes a Moon or Mars base feasible. 

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Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck fleet takes over at SpaceX’s Starbase

Interestingly, the Cybertruck uses the same exterior, a stainless steel alloy, as SpaceX rockets. This synergy between the two companies and their very different products shows a very unified mentality between Musk companies.

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Credit: @derek1ee | X

Tesla Cybertrucks have taken over at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, as hundreds of the all-electric pickup trucks were spotted late last week rounding out a massive fleet of vehicles.

The Cybertruck fleet is geared toward replacing gas vehicles that are used at Starbase for everyday operations. The only surprise about this is that it was not done sooner:

Deliveries have been going on for a few weeks, as Cybertrucks have made their way across the state of Texas from Austin to Starbase so they could be included in SpaceX’s fleet of vehicles at the facility.

Interestingly, the Cybertruck uses the same exterior, a stainless steel alloy, as SpaceX rockets. This synergy between the two companies and their very different products shows a very unified mentality between Musk companies.

However, there are some other perspectives to consider as SpaceX is utilizing such a massive fleet of Cybertrucks. Some media outlets (unsurprisingly) are seeing this as a move of weakness by both Tesla and SpaceX, as the aerospace company is, in a sense, “bailing out” lagging sales for the all-electric pickup.

It’s no secret that Tesla has struggled with the Cybertruck this year, and deliveries have been underwhelming in the sense that the company was anticipating between 1 million and 2 million orders for the vehicle before it was widely produced.

A lot of things changed with the Cybertruck between its 2019 unveiling and 2023 initial deliveries, most notably, price.

The price of the Cybertruck swelled significantly and priced out many of those who had pre-ordered it. Some have weighed the option of whether this purchase was a way to get rid of sitting inventory.

However, it seems more logical to consider the fact that SpaceX was likely always going to transition to Teslas for its fleet, especially at Starship, at some point.

It doesn’t seem out of the question that one Musk company would utilize another Musk company’s products, especially considering the Cybertruck has been teased as the vehicle that would be present on Mars.

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SpaceX successfully launches 100th Starlink mission of 2025

With 100 Starlink missions completed for 2025, space enthusiasts have noted that SpaceX has successfully launched 2,554 Starlink satellites so far this year.

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(Credit: Starlink)

SpaceX achieved its 100th Starlink mission of the year on Friday, October 31, marking another milestone for 2025. 

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink broadband satellites successfully lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:41 p.m. ET, carrying another 28 Starlink satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Falcon 9 booster’s 29th flight

Roughly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage touched down on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. This marked the booster’s 29th flight, which is approaching SpaceX’s reuse record of 31 missions.

This latest mission adds to SpaceX’s impressive 138 Falcon 9 launches in 2025, 99 of which were dedicated to Starlink, according to Space.com. The company’s focus on reusing boosters has enabled this breakneck pace, with multiple launches each week supporting both Starlink’s expansion and external customers.

Starlink’s network continues massive global expansion

Starlink remains the largest active satellite constellation in history, with more than 10,000 satellites launched, nearly 8,800 of which are currently active. SpaceX recently achieved Starlink’s 10,000-satellite milestone. With 100 Starlink missions completed for 2025, space enthusiasts have noted that SpaceX has successfully launched 2,554 Starlink satellites so far this year.

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Starlink, which provides high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity even to the world’s most remote areas, has been proven to be life-changing technology for people across the globe. The service is currently operational in about 150 countries, and it currently has over 5 million subscribers worldwide. From this number, 2.7 million joined over the past year.

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